Corporate social responsibility and patient's intention to revisit: A serial mediation study witnessing the healthcare sector.

The present study aims to identify the impact of corporate social responsibility on patients' intention to revisit the healthcare industry. Furthermore, mediating the role of patient satisfaction and patient loyalty along with serial mediation through corporate social responsibility = > patient satisfaction = > patient loyalty = > intention to revisit was also tested. The present study is quantitative in nature, while the data for the study was collected using purposive sampling from 321 patients working in eight hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan. For the data analysis, statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) and structural equation modeling through the partial least square approach (smart-PLS v 3.3.9) were employed. The study results show that corporate social responsibility forms a significantly positive relationship with patient satisfaction, patient loyalty, and patient intention to revisit. Study findings confirmed the mediating role of patient satisfaction and patient loyalty. Furthermore, serial mediation through patient satisfaction and patient loyalty was also confirmed. In the current competitive environment, understanding the direct and indirect effects of CSR activities on patient satisfaction, patient loyalty, and intentions to revisit is of the utmost importance for hospitals. These activities provide hospitals with the opportunity to take certain actions to improve patient satisfaction, and these actions increase their loyalty, which in turn encourages their intention to revisit.

Sustainability reporting and corporate financial performance of IPOs: witnessing emerging market.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of sustainability reporting (SR) quality on the corporate financial performance (CFP) of initial public offering (IPO) in Malaysia. This research applies the OLS and WLS regressions through content analysis of annual reports. The data was collected from Datastream, where 131 IPOs listed companies on Bursa Malaysia between 2007 and 2017. The findings indicate a positive and negative association between SR and its components with CFP. It is found that there is a negative and significant association between the SR characteristics of employees and products with CFP. However, it was discovered that the societal and environmental components have a significantly positive association with CFP. This finding shows that SR practices might be seen as an attempt to enhance IPO performance. The findings can facilitate financial institutions and regulatory agencies in driving responsibility on the part of companies regarding SR issues. The firms should involve SR practices in their SR decisions. Thus, this study emphasises the significance of combining social and organisational activities.

Environmental pollution and sustainability of IPO performance: evidence from the Pakistani Market.

This study examined the effect of air pollution on the initial return of IPOs in Pakistan. Cross-sectional data were used to examine 102 listed IPOs on Pakistan Stock Exchange between 1996 and 2019. Ordinary least squares and quantile least squares were employed to examine the influence of air pollution on IPO initial returns. Lastly, stepwise regression was utilised for additional analysis. According to the findings, in the presence of high air pollution, IPO initial returns also increase due to higher uncertainty. The findings demonstrate that air pollution intensifies a company's information environment and financial uncertainty. Therefore, addressing environmental challenges is critical for both public health and capital formation. This study's findings will increase companies' awareness of the economic effect of air pollution, particularly in a country where air pollution is strictly regulated. This study provides businesses with an economic reason to reduce their pollution levels, and it can also help regulators pass environmental laws that are aimed at addressing this issue.

Sustainability reporting and corporate reputation of Malaysian IPO companies.

The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between sustainability reporting (SR) and corporate reputation (CR) in the context of initial public offering (IPO) companies in the developing market of Malaysia. This study utilises secondary data from 2007 to 2017 derived from the content analysis of the annual reports and Datastream of 139 sampled IPO companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. The study also employs ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The result shows that CR has a positive association with SR quantity and quality and its dimensions, i.e., society, environmental, employee, and product. This result suggests that IPO companies can use SR practices to improve their CR. Most companies give little attention to SR issues. More research should be conducted to examine the SR by IPO companies due to the significant role that SR plays in improving the CR of Malaysian IPO companies. The findings can be used by financial institutions and regulatory bodies to encourage companies to be more responsible on SR issues. Businesses should incorporate social practices into their SR decisions. This paper underlines the importance of integrating social and organisational activities.

Level of sustainability reporting of Malaysian IPO companies.

This paper aims to determine the level of sustainability reporting (SR) among Malaysian initial public offering (IPO) companies. Due to a lack of awareness about SR and its dimensions, these aspects have not been receiving the necessary push from the public domain. This study is exploratory in nature. Secondary data were used by conducting content analysis of the annual reports of 139 sampled IPO companies listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2007 to 2017. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, with extent and quality being used as measures of SR. The results demonstrated gradual improvements of the extent and quality of SR among Malaysian IPO companies. The overall extent of SR was 20.70%, with employee disclosure scoring the highest (34.87%), followed by society disclosure (32.77%), environmental disclosure (22.48%), and finally product disclosure (9.88%). The overall quality of SR was 32.04%, with society disclosure scoring the highest (36.09%), followed by employee disclosure (34.13%), environmental disclosure (20.28%), and finally product disclosure (9.50%). SR dimensions, namely society, environmental, employee, and product received little interest from most of the IPO companies. This study proposes that additional studies can be conducted to investigate SR among IPO companies.

The role of facilities management in fighting COVID-19 outbreak: Evidence from Malaysian public hospitals.

The aim of this study is to provide a holistic review of the fight against COVID-19 in developing countries, particularly Malaysia. Specifically, the study aims to determine how facilities management delivery in public hospitals can be improved to ensure readiness in handling COVID-19 cases. We conducted a review of the literature and reliable media updates on COVID-19 and services management. A critical synthesis of COVID-19 information was conducted to scrutinise the technical aspects and highlight how facilities management can be improved to ensure hospital readiness in managing COVID-19 cases. The data and information used in the present study were collected up to the time of writing this paper, which leaves a room for further studies. Nonetheless, this study's recommendations are useful for understanding the present and future pandemics. This study is a first attempt to summarise the data on facilities management in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Malaysian context. The study's findings are suitable for the developing countries in managing healthcare management practices in the fight against COVID-19. This study aims to highlight current issues in order to provide a more objective assessment of facilities management to ensure hospital readiness in handling COVID-19 cases.

Silent cries behind closed doors: An online empirical assessment of fear of COVID-19, situational depression, and quality of life among Pakistani citizens.

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of fear of COVID-19 and situational depression on the quality of life (QOL) of Pakistani citizens. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted on Pakistani citizens via the snowball sampling technique. A total of 377 respondents (256 males and 121 females) participated in this study from August to October 2020. Adapted scales were validated using confirmatory factor analysis, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to the data to test the hypothesised model. The study's findings showed a negative relationship between fear of COVID-19 and QOL. Likewise, a reciprocal relationship was found between situational depression and quality of life. The results indicate that fear of COVID-19 and situational depression during the pandemic have affected the lives of Pakistani citizens. The findings are particularly relevant for improving the QOL by limiting the information received from media and social networks. There is a need to control these mediums and promote community-based interventions to provide accurate knowledge regarding COVID-19. Fear of COVID-19 and situational depression may be reduced in this way. Based on the current findings, psychotherapy and counselling programmes must be planned to minimise the adverse effects of fear of COVID-19 and depression on the QOL of citizens due to the ongoing progression of the pandemic.

Analysis of the interface pressure exerted by the Chêneau brace in patients with double-curve adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

The Chêneau brace has proven its effectiveness in treating the adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients. However, no studies reported on the analysis of interface pressure in double-curve adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients. In this study, we evaluated the interface pressure of the Chêneau brace action in double-curve adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patient treatment. A total of 72 (60 girls and 12 boys) patients aged 10 years and above participated in the study. The F-Socket transducers (9811E) were used to evaluate the pressure on the right thoracic and left thoracolumbar curves between normal and maximum strap tension and variation in these interface pressures with other tasks. Each patient was asked to do nine different tasks corresponding to daily activities, and the interface pressures for each activity were recorded for both normal and maximum tension. The resultant mean peak pressure in double-curve adolescent idiopathic scoliosis was higher for right thoracic curves than left thoracolumbar curves in all tasks. The pressure significantly increased at the task of maximal inspiration (p < 0.0001) for both types of curves for normal and maximum tension. The degrees of correction for the thoracic and thoracolumbar curves were 23.2% and 34.5%, respectively, after 6 months of brace use (23 h per day). Hence, we could not find any substantial correlation between mean peak pressure in the standing position and degree of scoliosis correction for two curves having r = 0.158, p = 0.356 and r = -0.024, p = 0.889 values.